Double return-ball



'H. E. NEWTON.

DOUBLE RETURN BALL.

(Application filed. Dec. 2, 1897.)

No. 6|2,|73. Patented Oct. ll, I898.

(No Model.)

NIT'ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. NEWTON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DOUBLE RETURN-BALL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 612,173, dated. October 11, 1898. Application filed December 2, 1897. Serial No. 660,538. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY E. NEWTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a certain new Improvement in Double Return-Balls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and amusing toy which I term a rotary or double return-b2111 and it consists of two balls connected'together by an elastic strip, so as to permit the alternate casting and catching of the balls in such manner that during a certain stage in each operation both balls are out of the hand of the operator, one leaving and the other returning, thereby producing an exceedingly amusing and interesting pastime for both young and old which requires a certain amount of skill gained by practice, and thus acts as an educator.

In carrying out my invention I provide two balls A and B, which are connected together by an elastic longitudinally-contractile strip 0, as clearly shown by the drawing. These balls may be made of wood, rubber, or other suitable material and the elastic strip attached thereto in any suitable manner, and a device thus constructed may be operated in a variety of ways of interest to the user; but that which I have found most interesting and requiring the greatest amount of skill, and consequently creating an incentive to practice, consists in grasping both balls in the hand, one in advance of the other, and first casting the outer ball with sufficient force to cause it to stretch the elastic strip, which in its reaction will return the ball to the hand, and during this return movement of the first ball and at the proper time the second ball should be cast from the hand and the first ball grasped, so that prior to the second ball reaching the limit of the elastic strip the first ball will have been grasped and used as the point of reaction for returning the second ball, as just described in connection with the first ball. From this it will be seen that the continual rotation of the two balls is brought about, and to an observer both balls at each operation will have passed from the hand and will appear mysterious in that they are moving in opposite directions and both sustained in mid air.

A certain amount of practice will render v one so eflicient in the manipulation of the balls as to make the operation highly amusing to all observers.

I am aware that a single ball has had attached thereto an elastic strip, and also that a ring or other object for holding the opposite end of the elastic has been attached thereto; but I do not lay claim to such a device, since the gist of my invention rests in the utilization of two balls, each one of which is adapted for casting, and the connecting together of these balls by an elastic 1ongitudinally-contractile strip, so that they may be caused to rotate or act and react upon each other in bringing about the to-and-fro movement.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new is-- The herein-described combination of two balls, and an elastic longitudinally-contractile strip connecting the same, whereby the two balls are adapted to be grasped in the hand and cast one after the other, the elasticity of the strap returning them to the hand, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' HENRY E. NEWTON.

lVitnesses:

GEORGE HANSEN, H. J. STEWART. 

